Construction products in the harmonised area
What rules have been applicable in the Republic of Croatia since 1 July 2013 to construction products in the harmonised area?
As of 1 July 2013, to construction products in the harmonised area in the Republic of Croatia Regulation (EU) No 305/2011 has been directly applied, while its application has been regulated by the Construction Products Act (Official Gazette 76/13, 30/14, 130/17, 39/19, 118/20).Also, as of June 2014, the following are directly applicable:
- Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) No 568/2014 of 18 February 2014 amending Annex V to Regulation (EU) No 305/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards the assessment and verification of constancy of performance of construction products, and
- Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) No 574/2014 оf 21 February 2014 amending Annex III to Regulation (EU) No 305/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council on the model to be used for drawing up a declaration of performance on construction products.
On the website of the Ministry of Physical Planning, Construction and State Assets all regulations governing construction products in Croatia are available.
Where to find Regulation (EU) No 305/2011 translated into Croatian?
Regulation (EU) No 305/2011 can be found in Croatian in the Official Journal of the European Union on the Eur-Lex website which provides access to European Union legislation.What are the obligations of a manufacturer who wants to market his construction product in the harmonised area within the borders of the Republic of Croatia?
Obligations of manufacturers are prescribed by Article 11 of Regulation (EU) No 305/2011.When a manufacturer places on the European Union market a construction product that is covered by a harmonised standard or is in accordance with the European Technical Assessment issued for it, he is obliged to:
- draw up technical documentation describing all the relevant elements related to the required system of assessment and verification of constancy of performance,
- draw up a declaration of performance in accordance with Articles 4 and 6 of Regulation (EU) No 305/2011 with data written in Croatian language and Latin script,
- affix the CE marking in accordance with Articles 8 and 9 of Regulation (EU) No 305/2011 with content written in Croatian language and Latin script,
- draw up instructions and safety information with data written in Croatian language and Latin script.
The remaining obligations of the manufacturer are prescribed by Article 11 of Regulation (EU) No 305/2011.
If any of the provisions of Article 5 of Regulation (EU) No 305/2011 is applicable, a manufacturer may refrain from drawing up a declaration of performance and affixing the CE marking to the construction product.
What are the obligations of an importer wishing to place a construction product in the harmonised area on the market within the borders of the Republic of Croatia?
The obligations and procedures of the importer, the required documentation, the labelling of the construction product or its packaging and the actions to be taken by the importer before and when the construction product is placed on the market, as well as the action taken by the importer in the event of suspicion that the construction product he wishes to place on the market does not comply with the declaration of performance drawn up by the manufacturer or that it does not comply with the applicable requirements of Regulation (EU) No 305/2011, are laid down in Article 13 of Regulation (EU) No 305/2011.
What are the obligations of a distributor wishing to place a construction product in the harmonised area on the market within the borders of the Republic of Croatia?
The obligations and procedures of the distributor, the required documentation and the actions to be taken by the distributor before and when making the construction product available on the market, as well as the action taken by the distributor in the event of suspicion that a construction product he wishes to make available on the market does not comply with the declaration of performance drawn up by the manufacturer or that it does not comply with the applicable requirements of Regulation (EU) No 305/2011, are laid down in Article 14 of Regulation (EU) No 305/2011.
An economic operator wishes to sell under the manufacturer’s name on the Croatian market a construction product in the harmonised area which is already sold on the market of a Member State of the European Union. Is the economic operator in such a case an importer or distributor?
Since the Republic of Croatia became a full member of the European Union on 1 July 2013, and thus part of the common European Economic Area, the terms defined in Article 2, Points 20 and 21 of Regulation (EU) No 305/2011 also apply to economic operators in the territory of the Republic of Croatia:
- distributor means any natural or legal person in the supply chain, other than the manufacturer or the importer, who makes a construction product available on the market;
- importer means any natural or legal person established within the Union, who places a construction product from a third country on the Union market.
An economic operator wishes to sell under the manufacturer’s name on the Croatian market a construction product in the harmonised area that is manufactured in Bosnia and Herzegovina. What are his obligations?
Where such a construction product from a third country is made available for the first time on the market of an EU Member State, this is considered as the placing on the market of a construction product on the European Union market, resulting in the economic operator being the importer and therefore subject to the obligations laid down in Article 13 of Regulation (EU) No 305/2011.
What is meant by ‘making available on the market’ and ‘placing on the market’?
The terms making available on the market and placing on the market are defined in Article 2(16) and (17) of Regulation (EU) No 305/2011:
- placing on the market means the first making available of a construction product on the Union market;
- making available on the market means any supply of a construction product for distribution or use on the Union market in the course of a commercial activity, whether in return for payment or free of charge (e.g. a product has been placed on the market in the Federal Republic of Germany and is subsequently made available on the market in the Republic of Croatia).
What obligations apply to distributors who wish to make a construction product in the harmonised area available on the market under their own name?
This case is provided for in Article 15 of Regulation (EU) No 305/2011, under which an importer or distributor is considered a manufacturer and is subject to the obligations of manufacturers (the obligations of manufacturers are laid down in Article 11 of Regulation (EU) No 305/2011 when manufacturers place a product on the market under their name or trademark or modifies a construction product that has already been placed on the market in such a way that conformity with the declaration of performance may be affected.
What is the purpose of a declaration of performance?
The manufacturer draws up a declaration of performance (DoP) when placing on the market a construction product in the harmonised area (which is covered by a harmonised standard or complies with the European Technical Assessment issued for it).The declaration of performance is the most important document that "accompanies" the CE marking as it contains complete information on the manufacturer, the construction product, its performances and intended use.
By drawing up the declaration of performance, the manufacturer assumes responsibility for the conformity of the construction product with the declared performance, as a result of which Member States are obliged to accept the declaration of performance drawn up by the manufacturer as accurate and reliable.
In the declaration of performance, the manufacturer shall declare the performance of at least one essential characteristic of the construction product.
In order to ensure the competitiveness and proper use of his construction product on the market of a Member State, the manufacturer shall take into account the intended use and the regulations of the Member State and shall decide which performance of the construction product in relation to the essential characteristics shall be made public.
Where are the rules and conditions for drawing up the declaration of performance laid down?
The rules and conditions for drawing up and the content of the declaration of performance are laid down in Articles 4 and 6 of Regulation (EU) No 305/2011, whereas Annex III to Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) No 574/2014 (this Delegated Regulation amended Annex III to the Regulation (EU) No 305/2011) prescribes the model of the declaration of performance to be used when drawing up the declaration of performance.
When can construction products be CE marked?
Only products in the harmonised area of construction products for which a declaration of performance has been drawn up by the manufacturer may be CE marked.The CE marking shall be affixed before the construction product is placed on the market and it shall constitute the only marking attesting the conformity of the construction product with the declared performance in relation to the essential characteristics covered by a harmonised standard or a European Technical Assessment. A Member State shall not prohibit or impede, within its territory or under its responsibility, the making available on the market or the use of construction products bearing the CE marking, when the declared performances correspond to the requirements for such use in that Member State.
The rules and conditions for affixing the CE marking are laid down in Article 9 of Regulation (EU) No 305/2011.
Must the documentation and CE marking be written in Croatian?
Pursuant to Articles 21 and 22 of the Construction Products Act (Official Gazette 76/13, 30/14, 130/17, 39/19, 118/20) content of the documentation and CE marking must be written in the Croatian language and Latin script.
Who performs the assessment and verification of constancy of performance?
Assessment and verification of constancy of performance of construction products in relation to their essential characteristics shall be carried out in accordance with one of the systems set out in Annex V to Regulation (EU) No 305/2011 and Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) No 568/2014 (this Delegated Regulation amended Annex V to Regulation (EU) No 305/2011).The system or systems thus determined are indicated in the harmonised technical specifications (harmonised standard and European Assessment Document).
According to Annex V, the manufacturer and the notified body (NB), depending on the system, carry out the prescribed tasks of the assessment and verification of constancy of performance and, on the basis thereof, the notified body shall issue a certificate of constancy of performance or a certificate of conformity of the factory production control or a test report (depending on the systems of assessment and verification of constancy of performance) and the manufacturer shall draw up the technical documentation on the basis of which the declaration of performance, the instructions and the safety information shall be drawn up and the CE marking shall be affixed by the manufacturer with the content written in Croatian language and Latin script.
In order to be able to carry out the prescribed assessment and verification of constancy of performance activities, the notified body must be registered in the NANDO base for the specific construction product and the technical specification.
What is a notified body?
A notified body is an independent body that performs the tasks of a third party in the process of assessing and verifying the constancy of performance of construction products and to which the European Commission has assigned an identification number and which is placed on the publicly available list of notified bodies in the NANDO database (New Approach Notified and Designated Organisations).
Does the Republic of Croatia have national notified bodies?
The list of Croatian notified bodies together with the list of construction products, technical specifications and third-party tasks for which the body is notified can be viewed in the NANDO database.
Who is responsible for notifying notified bodies in the Republic of Croatia?
In accordance with the Construction Products Act (Official Gazette 76/13, 30/14, 130/17, 39/19, 118/20), the Ministry of Physical Planning, Construction and State Assets is the administrative authority for notifying notified bodies.
What is a harmonised technical specification?
The concept of harmonised technical specification is defined in Article 2(10) of Regulation (EU) No 305/2011:harmonised technical specification means harmonised standards and European Assessment Documents.
The harmonised technical specifications prescribe the essential characteristics of construction products in relation to the essential requirements for construction works.
1. Harmonised standards shall be established by the European standardisation bodies on the basis of mandates issued by the European Commission after having consulted the Standing Committee on Construction.
Harmonised standards shall provide the methods and the criteria for assessing the performance of the construction products in relation to their essential characteristics.
A list of harmonised standards is published in the Official Journal of the European Union and can also be viewed on the European Commission’s website.
The list of accepted harmonised technical specifications referred to in the technical regulation (link na novu stranicu 8 s popisom) can be found on the website of the Ministry of Physical Planning, Construction and State Assets.
2. The European Assessment Document (EAD) allows the manufacturer to place a construction product in the harmonised area on the market, in cases where the construction product is not covered or not fully covered by a harmonised standard, for which the performance in relation to its essential characteristics cannot be entirely assessed according to an existing harmonised standard.
In this case, the manufacturer shall apply for a European Technical Assessment, on the basis of which the European Organisation for Technical Assessment ( EOTA) shall draw up and adopt a European Assessment Document for every construction product not covered or not fully covered by a harmonised standard, the performance of which in relation to its essential characteristics cannot be fully assessed in accordance with an existing harmonised standard.
The principles for the development and adoption of the European Assessment Document, the obligations of the TAB receiving the request for a European Technical Assessment, the publication of the European Assessment Document and the European Technical Assessment are laid down in Articles 20 to 26 of Regulation (EU) No 305/2011.
Based on the European Assessment Document, the TAB shall issue a European Technical Assessment to the manufacturer.
The European Technical Assessment shall include the performance to be declared, by levels or classes, or in a description, of those essential characteristics agreed by the manufacturer and the TAB receiving the request for the European Technical Assessment for the declared intended use, and technical details necessary for the implementation of the system of assessment and verification of constancy of performance.
What is a Technical Assessment Body?
A Technical Assessment Body (TAB) is a body that, at the request of the manufacturer, issues a European Technical Assessment based on the European Assessment Document.
Are there technical assessment bodies in the Republic of Croatia?
List of TABs designated under Regulation (EU) No 305/2011 can be found in the NANDO database. At this point in time, the Republic of Croatia has no TAB designated.
What are the obligations of the notified body and what those of the TAB?
A TAB shall carry out the assessment and issue the European Technical Assessment in a product area for which it has been designated, whereas the Notified Body carries out third-party tasks in accordance with the systems of assessment and verification of constancy of performance set out in Annex V to Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) No 568/2014.The obligations of TABs are laid down in Article 21 of Regulation (EU) No 305/2011, and the activities they carry out are prescribed by Articles 26 and 30 of Regulation (EU) No 305/2011.
The obligations of notified bodies are laid down in Article 52 of Regulation (EU) No 305/2011.
Shall certificates and test reports issued by a notified body of another Member State of the European Union be written in the Croatian language and in Latin script?
Currently there is no obligation for certificates and test reports issued by notified bodies to be translated into the Croatian language in Latin script.
A manufacturer from the Republic of Croatia had placed a CE marked construction product on the EU market before 1 July 2013. What should he do to sell such a construction product on the Croatian market after 1 July 2013?
For a construction product manufactured in the Republic of Croatia that had been placed on the market of the European Union before 1 July 2013, in accordance with Article 66 (2) of the transitional provisions of Regulation (EU) No 305/2011, the manufacturer shall draw up a declaration of performance based on a certificate of conformity or a declaration of conformity issued before 1 July 2013 in accordance with Directive 89/106/EEC.If the manufacturer has drawn up a declaration of performance, instructions and safety information and marked it in accordance with the provisions of Regulation (EU) No 305/2011, the aforementioned documentation and marking shall also be valid in the territory of the Republic of Croatia, provided that the data in the marking and documentation is written in the Croatian language and the Latin script.
A manufacturer from another Member State had placed a CE marked construction product on the EU market before 1 July 2013. Are the documentation and the marking for the construction product also valid in the territory of the Republic of Croatia after 1 July 2013?
For a construction product manufactured in the Republic of Croatia, which had been placed on the market of the European Union before 1 July 2013, in accordance with Article 66 (2) of the transitional provisions of Regulation (EU) No 305/2011, the manufacturer shall draw up a declaration of performance based on a certificate of conformity or a declaration of conformity issued before 1 July 2013 in accordance with Directive 89/106/EEC.If the manufacturer of a construction product manufactured in another Member State has drawn up a declaration of performance, instructions and safety notices and marked it in accordance with the provisions of Regulation (EU) No 305/2011, the aforementioned documentation and marking shall also be valid in the territory of the Republic of Croatia, provided that the content of the documentation and marking is written in the Croatian language and the Latin script.
A manufacturer from the Republic of Croatia has certificates of conformity issued by an authorized body before 1 July 2013. May the manufacturer draw up a declaration of performance on the basis of these documents?
In accordance with Article 66(2) of the transitional provisions of Regulation (EU) No 305/2011, the manufacturer shall draw up a declaration of performance based on a certificate of conformity or a declaration of conformity issued before 1 July 2013 in accordance with Directive 89/106/EEC.Likewise, Article 83 of the Construction Products Act (Official Gazette 76/13, 30/14, 130/17, 39/19, 118/20) provides that manufacturers may draw up the declaration of performance prescribed by that Act on the basis of a certificate of conformity or a declaration of conformity issued before the entry into force of that Act.
Also, the declaration of performance and CE marking must indicate the notified body’s identification number, which means that the notified body that issued the document of conformity has to be notified for the same construction product for which it issued the document.
Given the accession of the Republic of Croatia to the European Union on 1 July 2013 and the obligation to mark products with the CE marking in accordance with Regulation (EU) No 305/2011, we would like to know whether a blank space for the identification number of the notified body may be left in the CE marking, or whether this would be a violation. We are interested in the above primarily in terms of sale in the Republic of Croatia.
The rules and conditions for affixing the CE marking are laid down in Article 9 of Regulation (EU) No 305/2011. Article 9(2) lays down the mandatory content of the CE marking, including that the CE marking must be accompanied by the identification number of the notified body.If a construction product is covered by a harmonised standard or a European Technical Assessment has been issued for it, and the product is placed on the market and/or made available on the market of the European Union, it shall be marked in accordance with Regulation (EU) No 305/2011, meaning that the identification number of the notified body shall also be indicated.
The fact that those products would be intended primarily for sale in the Republic of Croatia does not affect the application of those rules.
A manufacturer from Bosnia and Herzegovina manufactures PVC windows and doors. What performances of the product must be declared in the declaration of performance if the products in question are to be marketed in the territory of the Republic of Croatia?
The decision on the publication of performances and essential characteristics of a construction product may be affected by the provisions concerning the installation of construction products for construction works built in the Republic of Croatia. It is stipulated that, for construction products, for foreseeable conditions of normal use of the construction work and for foreseeable environmental impacts on the construction work in its designed lifespan, the main design shall in the quality control and quality assurance programme specify the performance and essential characteristics of the construction product according to its intended use, which meet the essential requirements for the construction work for its final use. As this refers to the essential requirements for a construction work which, in view of its characteristics, have to be met by the designed construction work, the most likely situation is that the designs will set requirements (at least) in relation to the performance and essential characteristics as set out in the annexes ZA in harmonised standards.Thus by the Technical regulation for doors and windows (Official Gazette 69/06), which is in force in the Republic of Croatia, it is prescribed that windows and doors may be incorporated in a construction work if, among others, they meet the requirements prescribed by this regulation. In Article 8, as well as in the Annex of the indicated regulation, it is determined that in the construction work design the performance of windows and doors must be specified, and this specification is obligatory with regard to air tightness, whereas with regard to resistance to wind load, water tightness, heat transmission, noise insulation and resistance to fire and smoke leakage depending on the intended purpose and position of windows and doors in the construction work and the conditions of its use.
It is in the interest of manufacturers, in order to ensure competitiveness and proper use of their construction product on the market of a certain Member State, to take into consideration the product’s intended use and the regulations of the Member State, and based on that to decide what construction product performance concerning the essential characteristics shall be stated in the declaration of performance.
We are importers of a construction product (roofing membranes) which is manufactured under the ASTM standard, and we had engaged an authorised certification body which carried out factory production control and issued the certificate of conformity of the factory production control. However, the manufacturer carries out continuing laboratory testing according to ASTM, and we have to present them according to the harmonised standard HRN EN 13956:2012 in the declaration of performance as well as on the packaging. Can we give the same construction material to an authorised institution for testing, and present the results according to the EN standard in the declaration of performance?
Since this concerns the System 2+ of assessment and verification of constancy of performance, in accordance with Annex V point 1.3 (a) (iii) of Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) No 568/2014 the manufacturer shall carry out testing of samples taken at the manufacturing plant in accordance with the prescribed test plan.Therefore, continuing testing of the construction product shall be carried out according to the testing standard referred to by the harmonised standard HRN EN 13956:2012 during its production, and not subsequently.
Are there in the Republic of Croatia any additional requirements for construction products which are in contact with drinking water?
The Technical regulation on construction products (Official Gazette 35/18, 104/19) prescribes in Article 8(2), that if the construction product is intended for use which implies contact of that product with drinking water, then in addition to assessment and verification of constancy of performance for that product also the procedure of determining its fitness for that purpose shall be carried out under a special regulation.Special regulations which govern the procedure for determining the fitness of construction products that are in contact with drinking water in the Republic of Croatia are:
- Drinking Water Act ("Official Gazette" 56/13, 64/15, 104/17 and 115/18) and
- Ordinance on compliance parameters, methods of analysis, monitoring and safety plans for water for human consumption and the method of keeping a register of legal persons carrying out public water supply activities ("Official Gazette" 125/17 and 39/20), which fall within the remit of the Ministry of Health.
In view of the possibility of affixing the CE marking on the packaging of the product in several languages, is it necessary to adhere to the CE marking that is prescribed by the relevant standard for the specific construction product and simply affix several markings (each marking in one language), or is it necessary to include in a single prescribed form of the CE marking the text in several languages?
Article 21 of the Construction Products Act (Official Gazette 76/13, 30/14, 130/17, 39/19, 118/20) provides that a construction product for which the manufacturer has drawn up a declaration of performance shall bear the CE marking in accordance with Articles 8 and 9 of Regulation (EU) No 305/2011, with content written in Croatian language and in Latin script, which however does not exclude the possibility of affixing the CE marking also in other languages and scripts.It follows from the above stated that several CE markings may be affixed on the construction product, however the content of one of them shall be written in Croatian language and in Latin script.
Furthermore, other markings that are affixed along with the CE marking with content in Croatian language and in Latin script, in accordance with the rules of affixing the CE marking prescribed by Regulation (EU) no 305/2011 and Regulation (EC) No 765/2008, shall not mislead third parties regarding the meaning or form of the CE marking with content in Croatian language and in Latin script, and shall not reduce the visibility, legibility and meaning thereof.
A manufacturer manufactures a construction product in accordance with Regulation (EU) No 305/2011 a certificate of conformity of factory production control for the product has been issued. The product is being sold to one company only, under the identity of that company (trademark and name). Is it possible to declare a customer to be an authorised representative and to authorise him, among other things, for making that product available on the market? Or is it more correct to define the customer as a distributor? In such a case, I would like to know in how to fulfil the requirements from Article 15 of the Regulation where it is specified that a distributor shall be subject to the obligations of a manufacturer pursuant to Article 11 of the Regulation. What exactly does this mean? Based on which procedure/documents shall a distributor draw up the declaration of performance, that is, the CE marking?
Article 2(1)(19) and (20) of Regulation (EU) No 305/2011 defines the following terms:
- manufacturer means any natural or legal person who manufactures a construction product or who has such a product designed or manufactured, and markets that product under his name or trademark;
- distributor means any natural or legal person in the supply chain, other than the manufacturer or the importer, who makes a construction product available on the market.
Furthermore, Article 15 of Regulation (EU) No 305/2011 prescribes that an importer or distributor shall be considered a manufacturer for the purposes of the Regulation and shall be subject to the obligations of a manufacturer pursuant to Article 11, where he places a product on the market under his name or trademark or modifies a construction product already placed on the market in such a way that conformity with the declaration of performance may be affected.
Therefore, the provisions of Regulation (EU) No 305/2011 very clearly stipulate that if a person who manufactures a construction product, but does not trade it under his name or trademark, he is not considered a "manufacturer", whilst an economic operator who places the construction product on the market under his name or trademark, is considered to be a "manufacturer" and is subject to the obligations of a manufacturer pursuant to Article 11 of Regulation (EU) No 305/2011, which means that he has to fulfil the obligations from that Article.
Is it necessary, and in what manner, to mark the country of origin of a product, since the Consumer Protection Act prescribes that it is necessary to specify on a product the name and the seat of the manufacturer or of the importer with its seat in the territory of the EU?
Article 6(4) of the Consumer Protection Act (Official Gazette 19/22) regulates in Article 6(4) that the provisions of that article do not apply to products the marking of which is governed by a special regulation.Since construction products are governed by special regulations, the provisions of Regulation (EU) No 305/2011 and Article 21 of the Construction Products Act (Official Gazette 76/13, 30/14, 130/17, 39/19, 118/20) apply to the marking of construction products in the harmonised area, whereas the provisions of Article 29 of the Construction Products Act (Official Gazette 76/13, 30/14, 130/17, 39/19, 118/20) apply to the marking of construction products in the non-harmonised area, provided that the content of the marking is in Croatian language and in Latin script.